Fossils book is key to the past

14 May 2009

What evidence is there for evolution and extinctions? How can we learn about the Earth’s geological past? And how can you reconstruct this billion-year history of life on Earth?

With fossils. And the new edition of Natural History Museum book Fossils: The Key to the Past, available now.

Written by popular science writer Richard Fortey, Fossils is a redesigned, revised and extended 4th edition of the Museum’s popular introduction to the subject.

The accessible new design has stunning colour photographs throughout, many taken from the Museum’s spectacular specimen collections.

Fossil basics

Starting with the basics, Fortey explains what fossils are, how they form and how to identify them.

Latest research

The book covers the latest research including recent developments in molecular palaeontology and reflects on the advances in our understanding of the fossil record and the significance of new fossil finds.

Fortey discusses evolution and extinction, the economic uses of fossils, such as oil and coal, as well as offering practical advice for making a fossil collection.

Richard Fortey

Richard Fortey was a senior palaeontologist at the Natural History Museum. He has won both the Lewis Thomas and Michael Faraday prizes for his science writing and is a Fellow of the Royal Society.

Fortey is the author of several books including Trilobite: Eyewitness to Evolution, which was short-listed for the Samuel Johnson Prize and Dry Store Room No. 1: The Secret Life of the Natural History Museum.